


It's Just a House

by dreamganronpa



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: F/M, haunted hause, kyoko gets scared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 14:06:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21254588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamganronpa/pseuds/dreamganronpa
Summary: Makoto and Kyoko go to a haunted house. In it, the house seems to be creepier than Kyoko thought.





	It's Just a House

**Author's Note:**

  * For [froggurt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggurt/gifts).

> This was written for the DanganHalloween tumblr exchange
> 
> The spooks in the house are more psychological than like jumpscares? Like things fly around the room and there are like, subtle things, but nothing too scary. 
> 
> Please review! Happy Halloween!

“Why are we doing this again?” Makoto asked, nervously eyeing the looming house in front of him. Just the haunting noises coming from it sent chills up his neck.

Kyoko wrapped his hand in hers. “If you changed your mind, we can go back home. I wouldn’t mind.” 

“No it’s fine! I just don’t understand why people like to be scared so much..” The brunette bit the inside of his cheek. 

“I have no clue.” Kyoko chuckled. A pair of middle schoolers passed in front of them, joining the line of people waiting to enter the house. The line was much longer than when they first arrived, now extending to only a few feet away from the pair. “Now, before the line grows further, are you sure you still want to go in?” 

“Yeah.” Makoto said assuringly. He wanted more than anything to act brave for his girlfriend, especially when the haunted house was meant for kids. How scary could a kid’s attraction be?

Very scary, it seems. 

As Kyoko and Makoto moved into the long line, Kyoko began taking mental notes on the house. Where the screams came from, how long it took to move through the entire house, which rooms created the most screams, et cetera. She didn’t even need to see the layout by the time they were about to enter the house. 

“Are you ready for the fright of your lives?” A college boy who was dressed as a ticket-master asked. The house’s interior was decorated like the lobby of a movie theater- minus the snacks and, well, enjoyable atmosphere. The toned-down lights and eerie music made even the lobby seem scary. 

“Yes, thank you.” Kyoko said, politely showing the boy hers and Makoto’s admission bracelets. 

He nodded in response. “Go on then,” he said, gesturing for them to go up the grand stairs. As they started to climb the steps, Makoto tugged at his girlfriend’s sleeve.

“You didn’t have to be that formal to him, y’know.” He whispered, his voice already affected by his spiked nerves. 

“There’s nothing wrong with a little politeness. Besides, he looked like he had enough stress on his hands, the least I could do was offer my compliance.” Kyoko shrugged. They were at the top of the staircase now, which opened up to a long narrow hallway extending on both ends. Both hallways seemed to have different themes. Paper signs hung on both the left and right sides of the staircase. One said ‘Your House/Our House’ and the other said ‘Join the circus’.

“I think we get to choose which side we go through.” Makoto stated. Kyoko smiled at his observational skills.

“Yes, it does appear so. Which side would you like to do?” She assessed each hall to the best of her abilities, but it seemed that the halls were not the main focus of the attraction. She’d have to actually go into the rooms for a better look. 

It took a second for Makoto to answer. “Well, I kind of get the vibe of the circus one, but the other one doesn’t make much sense to me. Did you figure it out?”

“No, unfortunately the specific themes are a mystery to both of us.”

“W-well in that case, why don’t we try the left hallway?”

Kyoko chuckled, in that rare way that always calmed Makoto down regardless of the situation. It worked now, too. “That sounds like a plan.” 

They turned to the left, and thus began the terrors of ‘Your House/Our House’. The house made it pretty clear that you’re meant to go through each door in the hallway, and each one would provide different spooks. The left hallway had four doors. 

When Kyoko and Makoto entered into the first room, it took them a moment to even realize that it was meant for the haunted house. Everything seemed like a normal room, save for the unfamiliarity that came from walking in a recreation of someone’s home. Somehow, though, it seemed  _ too _ normal. There were no creepy paintings, no closets for someone to jump out of; just an average living room. The only outstanding thing though, was an embroidery work that was hung in the room, which with the dim light was hardly readable, but Kyoko could still make out the threaded letters. 

“This must be ‘your house’. I wonder what that means?” She thought aloud. As if he could read her mind, Makoto began to examine the room, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Still, the room just seemed like a typical house. Although, one strange aspect did arise- or better, decrease- during their brief time in the room: the temperature. 

“Is it getting cold in here, or is it just me?” Makoto said, wishing he had remembered to bring a jacket. 

Kyoko nodded. “No, I do believe someone’s messing with the thermostat.”

“Oh, good. Glad I’m not going crazy.” He sighed as he finished looking over the room unsuccessfully. “Well, I don’t think there’s anything left to find here. Maybe the next room will be scarier?” 

“We can try.” 

And so they left the first room, still confused on why it didn’t seem like any horror attraction they had been to before. Once they entered the second room, the puzzle grew even further. As they shut the door with a loud squeak, they realized why it felt so weird. The room was exactly the same as before. 

“Is this meant to be some sort of purgatory? That we’re not really allowed to leave the room? Nothing’s different.” Makoto whined. 

“There is something different. The room is giving off a different energy; it’s less peaceful than before.” She felt the floor and it was almost as if there was something shaking the room ever so slightly. Makoto bent down and touched the carpet as she had, and felt the same thing. 

“You’re right. Hey look, the sign-thingy is different too!” As he pointed to the embroidery, it appeared like it was tampered with. A few of the stitched in the ‘Y’ had been ripped out. 

Kyoko walked closer to the sign to confirm the observation. “Ah, you’re right. I believe it was intentional, too, judging by the glass in front of it.” 

Before they could determine any more differences, the sound of a door slamming erupted in the room. Makoto jumped at the sound, whipping around to face the door. Kyoko instinctively grabbed his hand, startled herself. No one was by the door though. 

“Th-that’s creepy.” Makoto muttered. Just the one noise had already begun to mess with his head. He squeezed Kyoko’s hand to reassure himself that he would be okay. 

“Are you alright?” Kyoko asked, now scanning the room for any signs of someone else inside. 

“I’m fine.” 

“Good. If you get too scared, we can always go home.” 

“Alright..” 

“The slam must have occurred from outside the door. We would see someone if they had entered.” Kyoko theorized. It seemed incorrect to Makoto though. 

“We still would’ve heard the door open though, right? It was super squeaky when we turned it, so whoever slammed it should’ve had a squeak too, wouldn’t they?” He refuted, recalling the terrible noise the doorknob produced. 

Kyoko exhaled in confirmation. “That’s true. Hmm, this mystery really is growing. Shall we proceed to the next room?” 

Makoto reluctantly agreed, letting Kyoko walk in front of him and touch the doorknob. The familiar squeak that came from it did nothing to ease his anxiety. He persisted on anyways, entering the third room alongside the detective. Again, it was eerily similar. 

“Now we know it is intentional, at least.” Kyoko lightheartedly joked to ease the tension. 

“Sure, you could say that.” Makoto agreed. This time he could feel the shaking, making him wonder how the people who ran the house managed to pull that off. Other than the shaking, the room seemed darker than in the previous ones. It was just light enough for him to be able to tell that the embroidery was once again tampered with. The majority of the stitches on the ‘Y’ were destroyed, leaving only a couple intact. 

“Do you think it’s getting colder again?” Kyoko asked. The hairs on the back of her neck were starting to stand up, alerting her of the cool temperature in the room. 

Makoto felt it as well. “This is really weird..” 

“I’ve read that people’s senses become more heightened in cooler temperatures, perhaps they are trying to simulate that?” Kyoko recalled. 

“Oh yeah, that does make sense.” 

“See, everything is f-” Kyoko could not say it was fine as a candle flickered to life and floated around the room. Hers and Makoto’s eyes followed it as is flew around the room, illuminating the wallpaper that was peeling from the walls in small strips. 

As the candle floated around, almost mesmerizing the couple, it distracted them from the rest of the room. They were ripped from their trance by a series of pounding from the other side of the wall, just a few inches away from their backs. As if on command, the candle’s light went out, leaving them in the dark with the desperate pounding coming from the room they were just in minutes before. Makoto covered his ears at the loud noise, though the pounds were getting louder and louder with each one. 

An ear-piercing shriek followed the pounding, startling even Kyoko. In a panic she grabbed Makoto and ran out of the room, reveling in the silence that came when they shut the door. 

“This is getting really weird.” Makoto said, finally un-cupping his ears. 

Kyoko wiped the thin layer of sweat that had appeared on her forehead. “I’ve never seen a haunted house anything like this. We haven’t been in the fourth room yet, either.” She nervously eyed the final room and wished that the outside could even hint as to what’s inside. 

“No better way to find out than to jump right it, r-right?” joked Makoto, equally wary as his girlfriend. 

“Right. Shall we, then?” Kyoko prompted. 

Makoto pressed a kiss to her chin and they both entered the fourth room, entirely blind to what could be in store. Blind they were, as the moment they closed the door behind them, they were completely cloaked in darkness, even more than in the rooms prior. Not a thing could be seen. 

They carefully walked to the middle of the room, having memorized the layout of the room already. More disturbing than the darkness was that the ground was still, not offering even an ounce of shake. Where before the stirring was strange for existing, now it was off-putting for  _ not _ existing. 

“Doesn’t it feel too good to be true though?” Kyok asked. If her days as a detective could give her any wisdom, she knew that a false sense of security could lead to doom. “Be careful: we don’t know what they have prepared.” she warned.

“Yeah, for all we know they’re gonn-” Before Makoto could finish, two hands were clamped over his mouth. He knew it wasn’t from Kyoko, since she made sounds of struggle as well. Before he could formulate any kind of reaction, the figure leaned close enough to him where its chilling breath blew onto his face and whispered directly into his ear. 

“Welcome to our house.” Was all it said. Only a moment after the dreadful phrase, the figure released Makoto from the wicked grip, and the real show of room four begun. 

The lights flashed on in one fell swoop, illuminating the room with full intensity. Everything that was in the rooms as they saw them before was in chaos; wallpaper torn to shreds, large holes burnt into the couch, knick-knacks strewn about the floor- the whole room was trashed. The embroidered sign was resting at their feet, no longer hung up on the wall. Now, the ‘Y’ was completely gone, revealing the sign to only read as ‘our house’

“Kyoko!” Makoto called as the room began to shake, even more vigorously than before. She responded to him by grabbing his hand. The shaking became so violent that they were knocked to the floor, no longer able to maintain balance. 

Just like in the third room, candles began to fly around the room, soon accompanied by the paintings and frames from off the wall. They spun with a vigor that was unimagineable, creating a tornado of terror. All Makoto and Kyoko could do was watch as each occurance nfolded in front of them. They were helpless. 

Then the pounding began, except it was coming from all angles of the room. The sound was hardly audible over the demonic moans and screeches that filled the room. It was an occult symphony- between the pounding, screeches and drawers slamming open and closed. Makoto’s head was spinning from all the chaos, but he still couldn’t leave. He wanted to be brave. 

As a grande finalé of sorts, red substance started to seep through the wallpaper opposite the couple. It spelled out letters eventually, reading “Welcome to our house. Come in, we’re friendly.” Once the letters were finished, everything came to a sudden stop. The room was as still as it was when they first entered. The candles and frames dropped to the ground, and the noise and shaking ceased within a moment. 

Kyoko didn’t need a moment to collect her bearings after that nightmare; she stumbled onto her feet, helped Makoto to their feet and they ran out of the room as quickly as they could. Makoto    
could barely walk, he was so dizzy. Still, he fled from the room with the help of Kyoko. When they were in the hallway, the pair took a moment to breath and process what just happened. 

“I don’t even know how that could possibly occur in a haunted house.” Kyoko pondered, pulling Makoto close to her for comfort. He needed it, too. 

“I can’t believe that even  _ happened _ .” Makoto exclaimed. He needed to catch his breath after the seemingly never-ending fright.

Having calmed herself down, Kyoko looked at her partner, who was still recovering. “Are you okay? You still seem shaken up.” 

Makoto nodded. “I’ve just never experienced that much adrenaline before. I’ll be fine when we get home, promise.” He didn’t want to worry Kyoko, especially since he knew she was affected by the frights too.

“Alright, if you say so. We should leave now, so they can let another person in.” The line was probably a mile long by now. 

“Okay.” Makoto removed himself from Kyoko’s grip and started to walk down the hallway. She quickly followed, but wouldn’t let him get ahead of her. She took hold of his arm, signaling for him to stop.

“Hey,” she said, “I’m proud of you. I know that house was scary, and you managed to get through it.” 

“Oh, thanks, I guess.” Makoto responded, smiling awkwardly. He didn’t really see it as much of an accomplishment. “I couldn’t have done it without you there to protect me, though.” 

Kyoko simply smiled, glad that she could have this experience with Makoto. Together, they left and went home with a memory they would never forget. 

  
  


  
  



End file.
